Immerse yourself in Office

Once upon a time, Microsoft Office was simply a suite of enormously popular business applications—like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. These days, Office is not just those classic apps, but also a whole bunch of services, as well. Just look at them all!

From email and online meetings, to file sharing and work management, one cost-effective subscription to Office 365 can give you all kinds of great services in the cloud. Plus, it also gives you always-up-date versions of your classic apps.

Together, these apps and services literally modernize the way organizations work—helping them boost their productivity, improve their security, reduce IT headaches and save them time and money. Is it any wonder thousands of Canadian businesses subscribe to Office 365 today?

Get more out of Office

But with so much functionality and so little time to explore it, how can you really take advantage of everything an Office 365 subscription gives you? Having your email and calendaring hosted for you by Microsoft is easy. Getting your organization using your own private social network (via Yammer), for example, can be a lot harder.

The answer, typically, starts with a better understanding of how these services actually work on a real, day-to-day level. Let’s use Skype for Business to illustrate what we mean.

Seeing is believing

A service like Skype for Business can revolutionize an organization’s way of collaborating and save them a lot of money. It connects team members with instant messaging, video conferencing, online meetings and even replaces local phone systems. Organizations use Skype for Business to avoid stressful commutes and expensive trips. Awesome!

But if you and your team can’t actually see how Skype for Business works, how can you be expected to adopt it? Sure, you could watch and share online videos. But how can you be sure those videos are accurate and up-to-date? And what if you have questions about how things work or want to go deeper on some of the specifics?

Immerse yourself!

Attending an online customer immersion experience (CIE) session can help you explore and get to know Office 365 services. You just request a CIE then tune in. A Microsoft expert will walk you through common work scenarios and you can ask questions and explore solutions in real-time. It’s not a sales pitch. There’s no pressure. Think of it as a guided tour available to you from the convenience of your desk or device.

Ask your Partner

If you work with a Microsoft Certified Partner, you can ask them to coordinate an online CIE for you—or even conduct an in-person session themselves with you. Microsoft Partners want to ensure you get the most value out of your Office 365 subscription and will happily take the time to explore how you can benefit from modern services.

How to avoid downtime, data loss and costly hacks

Leigh Mitchell

Leigh Mitchell is a facilitator and marketer who founded Women in Biz Network and publishes #ThriveinmyLife podcast. Leigh’s career has led her to successfully work with women along with major brands such as Microsoft Canada, TELUS, and Staples Canada. Leigh is featured on CBC Radio, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Canadian Living and Wall Street Journal.

Americans know the importance of Dec. 7, 1941, when a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor resulted in the deaths of 2,400 Americans. Another Dec. 7 event is worth remembering, one that isn’t known by nearly as many people, yet is “connected in an interesting way to the events that were unleashed on Dec. 7, 1941,”... […]

As we continue to grow and plan for the future, Microsoft is modernizing our workplaces in all regions where we do business. In Silicon Valley, we are creating our smartest, greenest office yet. Our new Silicon Valley Campus, a 643,000-square-foot modernization of our 32-acre Mountain View location, recently broke ground. This project represents a significant investment... […]